opening pitch… Prince George's wraps up the regular season with a doubleheader against Chesapeake on Saturday. The Skipjacks have won the last nine games in the series dating back to the 2013 season.
the word on the skipkjacks… Chesapeake comes into the doubleheader 29-17-1 overall and 12-9-1 in league play after sweeping a doubleheader against CCBC Dundalk on May 2. Eddie Nevins leads the team with a .372 batting average with 55 hits, 47 runs scored, 22 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 44 RBIs. Cody Forster is hitting .364 with 48 hits, 38 runs scored, five doubles, two triples, a homer and 19 RBIs while Tyler Galazin is batting .338 with 46 hits, 48 runs scored, 12 doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs. Michael YaSenka fuels the team with 55.0 innings pitched, a 5-0 record, 89 strikeouts and a 4.25 ERA.

last time out… Eighth-ranked Prince George's Community College falls to Cecil College 6-2 on Thursday. Ryan Faircloth smacked his fourth home run of the season for the Owls while Naquan Holden added two hits and an RBI and Kilian Bloat (Liberty, N.Y./Liberty) registered a hit and a run scored. Jonathan Mahoney pitched well in the loss, allowing three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts in six innings of work.
next on tap… Prince George's will host the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament on May 12-14.

nationally ranked… The Prince George's Community College baseball team maintains its No. 8 ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Baseball Rankings, announced on Tuesday. The Owls have been nationally ranked in four of the last five weeks. Prince George's went 3-2 in the week after falling 14-8 to CCBC Catonsville on Thursday before taking two from Region XX rival Westmoreland on Saturday by scores of 8-4 and 3-0. The squad wrapped up the week with a twinbill split with Garrett after falling 8-5 and then winning the second game 5-4 thanks to a walk-off wild pitch. The Owls received 20 points for the second-straight week to sit in eighth for the second time this season. Cumberland County remained the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation after receiving all seven first-place votes for the second-straight week with 70 points. Niagara County earned 59 points to move up to second place while St. Cloud Tech (54 points), Rowan Gloucester (50 points), Northampton (37 points), Tyler (35 points), Century (24 points), Prince George's (20 points), Brookhaven (14 points) and Riverland (11 points) rounded out the 10-team poll.

milestone numbers… Prince George's has won 20 games for the first time under head coach Buddy Foster. The Owls reached the milestone with a 3-2 win against No. 17 Frederick on Apr. 15. Foster is now just four wins shy of 100 wins for his career.

theft master… With three steals against Allegany of Maryland on Apr. 23, freshman Brandon Crosby became the first Prince George's player in the last five years to swipe 40 bases in a season and now has 42 stolen bases on the year. Crosby became just the third player in the last five years on the squad to have 20 thefts, joining Roland Eusesio (26, 2016) and Abdiel Marcano (29, 2014 and 20, 2013) as the only players with 20 steals in that stretch. Freshman Bay To can became the fourth player in that span with 20 steals and currently has 21 steals on the year.

in the last five years… Along with Brandon Crosby being the first Prince George's player in the last five years with 40 steals, Crosby is the first player to score 60 runs in a season and the fifth player with 50 hits in a season during that stretch. Crosby currently sits at 62 runs to post the most runs scored in the last five years for the team while his 68 base hits are the most in the last five years. Dakota McFadden has posted 20 doubles this season to notch the most doubles in the last five years while his 50 RBIs matches Jeremy Hagstrom's (50) total from last year. McFadden and Harold Marte's eight homers are the most for the team in the last five years while Michael Hovermill is the third pitcher to reach five wins in a season and how has six on the year.

this is how we roll… Prince George's players have recorded at least two hits in a game 130 times this season. The squad has also had three hits in a game by a player 33 times, four hits by a player seven times and four five-hit performances. Brandon Crosby leads the way with 22 multi-hit games this season while Dakota McFadden (18), Bay To (16), Harold Marte (16), Dwayne Coleman (11), Siri-Jacob Ramirez (8), Kilian Bloat (7), Austin Adams (6), Ryan Faircloth (6), Jared Davis (4), Thomas Thorgersen (4), Quentin Rohrbaugh (5), Naquan Holden (3) and Bryan Waltemath (2) have also notch multi-hit contests this season. Crosby has tallied 11 games with three hits while Marte (4), Bloat (3), McFadden (3), Coleman (2), Faircloth (1), Holden (1), Ramirez (1) and Rohrbaugh (1). McFadden has three four-hit games while Adams has two four-hit games and Coleman and Waltemath each have one four-hit performance this season while To has two five-hit games and Coleman and Ramirez each recorded a five-hit performance this season.punch out kings… Five Prince George's pitchers have recorded nine strikeouts or more in a game this season. Jonathan Mahoney posted 11 strikeouts in a five-inning game against Central Virginia on Feb. 8 while Michael Hovermill, Jr. registered 11 strikeouts in nine innings against Anne Arundel on Mar. 28 for the top strikeout mark this season. Dakota McFadden struck out 10 College of Faith hitters on Feb. 18 in seven innings while Mahoney posted nine punch outs against Orange County on Feb. 26 and Kilian Bloat registered nine strikeouts against UVAA on Feb. 17. Thomas Thorgersen recorded nine of his 12 outs recorded via the strikeout against Harford on Apr. 4. Hovermill had nine strikeouts against Westmoreland on Apr. 29 and MdFadden had nine punchouts against Garrett on Apr. 30 while Mahoney posted nine K's against Cecil on May 4. The Owls are 6-3 when a pitcher has nine or more strikeouts in a game.

hovermill honored again…Michael Hovermill, Jr. was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Pitcher of the Week for the week of Apr. 24-30. It is second time this season the freshman has received the top pitcher in the nation award after also garnering the recognition for the week of Mar. 27-Apr. 2. Hovermill, a right-handed pitcher, tossed a four-hit complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts and two walks in a 3-0 win against Westmoreland County Community College on Saturday. With the win, the freshman picked up his team-leading sixth win on the mound this season.

hovermill honored… Michael Hovermill, Jr. was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 27-April 2. It is Hovermill's first honor of the season. Hovermill pitched a nine inning complete-game gem in a 7-1 win against Anne Arundel Community College on Mar. 28, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts on 117 pitches. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning five times and retired 12 of 13 batters faced from the second to the fifth inning with the only hitter reaching base on an error in that stretch. The Riverhawks were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and twice Anne Arundel had runners in scoring position with no outs and the freshman got out of both innings unscathed. what a stretch… After going through a five-game winless streak, Prince George's has won 18 of its last 25 games, including going 8-0 against NJCAA Division III teams and have won all six games against Division III Region XX competition. The squad has posted 165 runs in the 18 wins and has tallied 39 innings with two or more runs scored, including eight four-run frames, five five-run innings, two six-run inning outburst, a seven-run inning and a nine-run outburst against Montgomery. The team has pounded out 200 hits in the 18 victories, including 79 extra base hits (52 doubles, 6 triples, 21 home runs).region xx tournament… Prince George's Community College will host the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament on May 12-14 and locked up the top seed in the three-day event. The Owls swept Community College of Allegheny County-South 6-2 and 11-1 on Mar. 26 and then swept Montgomery 14-11 and 3-2 on Apr. 2. Prince George's locked up the No. 1 seed with 8-4 and 3-0 victories against Westmoreland County on Apr. 29 to end the year 6-0 against Region XX opponents.

in the nation…Brandon Crosby leads the National Junior College Athletic Association with 42 stolen bases while ranking fourth in runs (63). Dakota McFadden ranks third in doubles (20) and fourth in slugging percentage (.795) while Bay To is eighth in slugging percentage (.785) and ninth in doubles (17). As a team, the Owls lead Division III in slugging percentage (.585) and batting average (.373) while ranking second in home runs (42), fifth in on-base percentage (.454), fifth in triples (18), fifth in doubles (104), seventh in stolen bases (106), seventh in runs (362), eighth in RBIs (307), ninth in hits (472) and ninth in triples (19). NOTE: Prince George's is an NJCAA Division III member so these rankings only include Division III programs in the nation.

in the league… Brandon Crosby fuels Maryland JUCO lead in stolen bases (42) while ranking second in batting average (.450), third in on-base percentage (.538), third in hits (68), fourth in runs scored (63) and eighth in doubles (14). Dakota McFadden ranks second in the circuit in doubles (20), fourth in batting average (.434), fourth in in ERA (2.98), sixth in RBIs (50), eighth in slugging percentage (.772), ninth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.87), 10th in hits (59). Bay To sits third in triples (4), sixth in batting average (.431), sixth in on-base percentage (.522), sixth in doubles (17), sixth in slugging percentage (.785) and eighth in stolen bases (21). Michael Hovermill, Jr. is eighth in wins (6) while Jonathan Mahoney ranks fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.17), eighth in strikeouts (67), ninth in ERA (4.00) and 10th in innings pitched (54.0). Harold Marte is eighth in doubles (14). As a team, the Owls lead the conference with a .373 batting average while ranking second in on-base percentage (.454), second in slugging percentage (.585), second in triples (19), second in home runs (42), third in doubles (104), third in stolen bases (106), third in hits (472), third in RBIs (307), fourth in runs (362) and fifth in ERA (5.09) in the circuit. NOTE: The Maryland JUCO is comprised of all the teams from Maryland no matter what division affiliation (Division I, II or III).

the roster… Head coach Buddy Foster has added 11 freshmen to his team in 2017 while returning 10 players from last year's team.

a loss to the owls family... Legendary Prince George's baseball coach William "Bumps" Vaughan passed away at the age of 90 on Feb. 25. In his long career as a head coach includes 20 years at the helm of the Owls from 1986-2005. The Owls will be wearing a special patch on their uniforms in honor of Vaughan and the athletic department paid tribute to Vaughan with a tip of the cap moment of silence before its doubleheader against Westmoreland County on Apr. 29.

about the coach… Head coach Buddy Foster enters his sixth season as the head coach of the baseball team. Foster has been at Prince George's since the 2009 campaign after serving as the squad's pitching coach for three seasons before being elevated to the head coach position. He guided the 2014 Owls to the NJCAA Region XX Division III title and advanced to the NJCAA Division III World Series.